


Clown Hunting

by thisneedsaname



Series: Clown Hunting [1]
Category: Homestuck, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Crossover, Ghoulstuck, Humanstuck, Multi, Other, Tokyo Ghoulstuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-13 17:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5711275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisneedsaname/pseuds/thisneedsaname
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nepeta Leijon is a low-laying ghoul who shares a territory with her best friend/queer platonic partner. She lives a simple life, visits her friends often, and stays out of trouble.</p>
<p>Until a loose cannon investigator by the name Makara shows up with his by-the-book partner Vantas, and almost immediately sends her life spinning. </p>
<p>Plagued by grief and an unrelenting rage, Nepeta finds herself on a path that leads to places she never wished to go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Week From Hell

**Author's Note:**

> the summary is like a middle-aged mom book i know i apologize  
> most of these pairings are either implied/happen later/are "black" even in the human/ghoul au. this is the first chapter and i hope u guys like it! more characters will be showing up more often in the later chapters its not gonna be a short story,,,,,,,,,,,,,,whoops

The blaring alarm is what woke Nepeta that morning, and she groaned in annoyance. Trying to hit the sleep button proved pointless however, because even though she was definitely hitting it, the sound wasn’t stopping. Groggily, she sat up and rubbed her bleary eyes. She turned so her feet were touching her blue kitty slippers, and stared at the clock in annoyance. Deciding her best course of action was to just unplug it. She reached over and tugged the cord out of the wall. In the back of her mind, she could hear Equius’s voice reprimanding such “dangerous activities”.

The time read 5:00, and Nepeta was severely pissed Equius had screwed with her alarm again. She got up no problems at 5:30, but _nooooooo_ of course she had to get up half an hour earlier!

Rolling her eyes and sighing to herself, she resigned to shuffling out of her room and into the shared bathroom. Picking up her file, she absently began to shorten her canines, wondering how they grew so much just overnight. After finishing with that boring task, she finished up her morning routine and made her way into the kitchen, where Equius already had her breakfast laying out for her.

Judging by the way it was still slightly warm—that boy knew how to cook, she’d give him that much—Nepeta figured he hadn’t left too long ago. He always left before she was fully ready, and she knew it was probably a precaution in case anyone decided to go snooping around and found out his true identity. At least this way she wouldn’t be in too much danger either, but she already knew if doves killed him she would be next; neighbours got a lot nosier and blabbier after a ghoul was found near them.

She finished her breakfast at just after 5:30, and rolled her eyes in exasperation. She didn’t really have any plans for the day, except maybe stop by the auto shop and walk around to try and find some inspiration. She smiled to herself and began writing down a note for Equius in case he got home sooner than her.

_“;33 hey you big smelly nerd! guess youre home before i am ill be back later!! dont stink up the place while im gone <3” _

She figured even though she would be seeing him and could tell him then, it was best to make sure he had a reminder so he didn’t go out looking for her and potentially draw any doves’ eyes. 

Strolling through the town was especially relaxing this time of month, she found. Currently, she was on her way to visit Feferi and her favourite sweetshop (where she could talk to many interesting humans and ghouls alike) to kill some time before she made her way to the auto shop. She’d probably visit Aranea’s bookstore (even though she wasn’t overly fond of her) and Kanaya’s boutique, just so she could stay out later than she usually did. She felt like the world was hers, and she liked that feeling a lot. Besides, she was really hoping visiting the various locations could spark up her inspiration.

 

Sweeping into the sweetshop with an amicable greeting to both Feferi and Jane (who she knew would definitely be working at this time) Nepeta glanced around the shop to see who all that day was there as the two called hellos back. Eridan wasn’t there today—per usual, thank God—and it seemed Vriska wasn’t either. The investigator Captor was there with his older brother, and though she didn’t make it obvious she definitely stayed away from them when possible (she had forgotten to eat a mint after her breakfast). She didn’t know where Captor’s partner was, but she was probably still on the case for Eridan.

As Nepeta browsed the soothing pink aisles, she walked by the café part of the store and decided to take inventory of who was there as a just-in-case. Kanaya’s elder sister was there again, talking to Aradia’s adopted sister in hushed tones, eyes often—but not too boldly—darting over to the only other occupants of the café. Nepeta instantly knew them to be doves because of the ghouls’ secrecy and slight fear, but she had never seen these two before. 

One was rather short and stubby from what she could tell, with shock white hair, a dark complexion, and pinkish red eyes. He seemed to be arguing with his partner, who was sitting in a way that Nepeta could only explain as the typical stoner slouch. She got gross vibes from him, so as quickly as she had started examining the Turkish dove, started walking away down back towards the aisles of the candy shop, and far away from the café. 

Before leaving, she helped Feferi move in some new equipment, Jane too busy watching the kitchen to help the amputee, and besides, Nepeta loved helping Feferi when she could, and felt she owed the kind ghoul a few favours. And it was far better than risking the chance that the doves might offer help instead. 

As she left the store, she tried not to notice the two investigators leaving not a minute after her. She hurried to the park, hoping to lose them amongst the throng of people in a non-suspicious way, and there was no way in hell she’d bring them to any ghoul hangouts, or anywhere near Equius. She loved that dumb sweaty loser, but she also knew he couldn’t fully take care of himself as a ghoul amongst humans. Luckily, most people just thought he was a weirdo—especially since she was so good at being a human—but she knew doves were less than optimistic. 

After losing the two investigators—one whom was quite attractive, but she’d never admit it—Nepeta continued on her original plan and dropped by Kanaya’s boutique. It was only around one in the afternoon, so she took her time going through all of the very up to date clothes. In the end, she ended up buying matching scarves she’d force Eq to wear with her. After bidding farewell to Kanaya, she made a quick detour to a corner store where she bought some more towels for Equius—he kept ruining all his with grease and sweat—and some more yarn for herself. 

When she made it to Aranea’s bookstore—which was a nice halfway between her territory and Kanaya’s—she wasn’t all that surprised to find the dove Pyrope there talking to Aranea. Nodding a greeting to the two women, she made her way to the back of the store, browsing through some romance novels to see if she could find anything worth reading. She was slightly worried for Aranea, but since the only tie she had to Eridan was through Vriska, her _adopted_ sister, she figured Aranea would be fine. 

She was so caught up in her title browsing she didn’t even register the bell ring, signalling more customers. Nor did she hear the two steps of footsteps, the louder, more powerful ones breaking off from the shorter, faster ones. Said shorter, faster ones kept on their way, which was (as fate would have it) right where Nepeta was browsing. She only noticed the fact that the albino-haired dove from earlier was beside her when she went to leave, turning her head and catching a glimpse of his hair. Deciding it better not to say anything, she simply left, calling out a farewell to Aranea as she mixed in with the people outside once again. 

She strolled into the auto shop like she owned the place, smiling at Jade and Dirk, and calling out for Equius—who often worked in the back so he wouldn’t have to deal with customers too often. 

“Honestly,” Jade began, fixing her ponytail while Dirk glanced over at the two from his workbench, “I don’t know how you put up with him all the time!” the two girls laughed to themselves, and Nepeta just gave her a knowing smile. 

“If I don’t, who will? You can’t expect him to live on his own, can you? He’d be nothing without me, and I’d be a lot lonelier without him,” she said, and Jade shook her head. 

“Whatever you say, Nep. Guess we all got our own dorks to look after, huh?” 

Equius came blundering out, wiping his hands with a towel that was definitely stained beyond fixing. She rolled her eyes and tossed him the bag from the corner store—she put her yarn in the boutique store bag—which he caught and immediately began pulling out a towel to wipe his face and neck with. Gross. 

“Anyways, I’m here to tell you that I’m probably gonna be home late. Inspiration’s been null lately and deadline’s coming up. So if you get home before me, don’t flip. I’ll be back by let’s say…ten at the latest. Pinky promise.” She prattled off, thrusting her hand out so that he could complete the pinky promise. Which he did, in a “mom please stop you’re embarrassing me in front of my friends” kind of way. She shared a look with Dirk, and sent him a warning look that you could only see if you were looking for it. He got the hint and continued on with his work, though she thought she saw a glimpse of an appreciating smile tug at the corner of his mouth. 

Now, Dirk wasn’t a ghoul, but he was very close with quite a few, and liked to be kept in the loop so he could better “protect” his friends and family. Nepeta respected that, and did whatever she could to keep him updated, though she stayed low-key about it. She wasn’t about to risk her or Equius over keeping a human updated in ghoul affairs. 

Sitting on a park bench alone could do wonders for your psyche, Nepeta found out every time she sat on a park bench alone. Her eyes were half-lidded, the somewhat cold air making her face tinge red. Glancing at her watch, she realized it was almost 9:30. If she wanted to get any walking around done, she’d have to do it now. 

Her walk was soon accompanied by a certain bubbly friend, who greeted Nepeta with a simple, “Hey Nepeta, wait up!” Nepeta slowed down, waiting for Feferi to catch up to her so she could question her about what she was doing so far off her territory. 

“Well, after I saw those two investigators—and I don’t mean Captor, because let’s be real he’s always hanging around—follow you out of the store, and learned from Jade that you were going to be out late I thought it’d be good to warn you about them,” she began, her voice somewhere between a whisper and a normal volume as she glanced around cautiously, “their names are Makara and Vantas, and from what I hear they’re two of the best investigators around. I have no idea what they’re here for, since the S+ ghouls already have investigators, but whatever it is it’s not good. They’re sticking to the territories around yours, and I’m not sure why. Maybe they’re looking for Vriska’s family? It’s a well-known fact she has family, though she doesn’t really have any strong bonds…maybe they simply want to weed out any ghouls in these areas?” she pondered on, and Nepeta gave her an unsure look. 

“They did enter Aranea’s bookstore when I was there, but Pyrope was already talking to Aranea so I’m pretty sure anything and everything that has any suspicion of having to do with Vriska or Eridan is covered by Pyrope/Nitram. We know they work together a lot since Eridan and Vriska were so involved when they were both around and active. 

“Weeding out ghouls is probably their goal, what with how ghoul activity seems to be on a rise lately. In all honesty, I’m probably going to be keeping my wandering to a limit while they’re here. I don’t really want to risk outing Eq, ya know? He sticks out like a sore thumb, and besides, if they lock me up over any suspicions then I have to try and explain away my canines.” 

“Just be careful, it’s not all that safe anymore! And I’d love to stay out with you, but I’m worried about being too far away from my territory, in case anyone tries anything while I’m gone. But get home safe, okay?” Feferi said, voice returning to a normal volume and peppy demeanour returning. "I will, you too, ya hear?” Nepeta called back, waving as her friend began walking away. 

Nepeta made it back to the apartment at 10:01 exactly, and Equius was staring at her from the couch like a disappointed parent. He raised his eyebrows as if to ask for an explanation, and Nepeta gave him her most exasperated look—one she had perfected after living with him—but caved in and told him why she was late anyways. 

“So Feferi says these two doves are bad news?” he asked, his frown lines deepening in concern. She wanted to shush him and get rid of any worry he had, but knew that was too dangerous. 

“Yeah, so be careful alright? I know you try your best, and Dirk will help you out at work, but I’m really worried about you. Try to keep your wandering to a minimum, and if a neighbour talks to you, don’t sweat it!” she said, walking over to him and sitting down beside him, leaning into him and wrinkling her nose. Ignoring how sweaty he was for the moment, she feared that he wouldn’t take her advice seriously. Not because she didn’t trust him, but because she didn’t trust neighbours. This wasn’t her first neighbourhood after relocation, and she wanted it to be her last. 

“I will, and you too. No more late night wandering.” He said, uncrossing his arms to lay one gently over her shoulders. He was willing to stay there until she felt better; less paranoid of them being found out. 

Unfortunately, they heard a knocking at the door and Nepeta’s stomach dropped. “Go to bed,” she hissed, jumping out of his embrace and to her feet, already pulling him up and pushing him towards the rear of the apartment, where the two bedrooms were located. He went, pausing to look back at her, but she shooed him and didn’t start heading towards the door until she heard the door softly close, regardless of the once-knocking-now-pounding on the front door throughout the whole exchange. 

Ruffling her hair and throwing her pants off so she looked like she was in PJs and disturbed from her sleep, she made her way to the door, looking through the peephole and cursing internally. Predictably, there stood Makara and Vantas. 

She unlocked and eased open the door, sending the two investigators a groggy, “How may I help you two?” rubbing her eyes for extra effect, praying that they bought her disturbed-from-sleep act. 

“We were hoping to speak to the two shared owners of this apartment, as we have reason to suspect you may be in danger due to recent ghoul activity.” She didn’t know which was which, but she suspected the one speaking was Vantas, the very small, professional sounding white haired dove from the book shop. 

“Oh, well, I’m sorry but my housemate is currently sleeping. It’s just me awake, so I can just pass it on to him.” 

“It’s very urgent, ma’am.” 

“I must insist.” 

“Very well,” he gave in, narrowing his eyes at her, “may we come in?” a cold stab of fear shot through her, as her mind raced to try and remember if they had left anything out of place. If she kept them in the living room, things should be fine. 

“Of course, though let me apologize for my manner of dress, I too, was asleep before you guys came.” She said, leading them to the living room and seating them. She wandered to the kitchen, which was the next room over, and asked if they’d like anything while she made herself some coffee. 

“No, thank you,” Vantas said in his usual gruff voice, while Makara—speaking for the first time—grunted a yes. His voice was like nails on a chalkboard to her and sent shivers down her spine. She tensed her shoulders, gave two seconds to relax, and reappeared back in the living room with two mugs of coffee—very diligently remembering which was hers and which wasn’t. 

“So, what’s this about being in danger?” she began as casually as she could, glancing up from her mug and to Vantas. 

“First things first, my name is Karkat Vantas. I prefer going by Vantas. And this is my partner-“ 

“I don’t care what you call me.” He grunted, eyes boring holes through Nepeta’s own. She looked back to Vantas quickly. 

“-Gamzee Makara. We’re head inspectors of the CCG, and we believe there could be ghouls hiding amongst you in this apartment block.” He finished, acting like Makara hadn't cut him off at all. 

“That’s really scary…why do you think that?” she asked, making her eyes big and round and giving a slight quiver to both her voice and lip. 

“Suspicious activity, higher number of missing people than most areas, as well as clear ghoul boundaries. We think there’s a shared territory around here, since the homeless population has declined so drastically in the past few years, even after the Serket ghouls were driven into hiding.” 

Nepeta tried to ignore the lump forming in her throat. They were on the hunt for her and Equius. They had narrowed their territory and even residence down. She figured they’d be low-key monitored, so moving wasn’t an option. But they couldn’t just stop hunting, either. 

“I see…thank you for warning me. If I see any suspicious activity, what should I do? And how can I contact you?” She asked, with no intention of ever contacting them voluntarily. 

“Vacate the area immediately. Try and get to a crowded or well-populated area and call the number on this card, it directs you to both my and Makara’s personal phones.” He said, sliding a card across the coffee table between them. She graciously picked it up. 

“Thank you so much, I’ll be sure to call if anything comes up. But I’d hate to think it could be any of the other residents, they’re all so kind…” she said, reading the card over and knowing she’d tear it to shreds as soon as they left. 

Before Vantas could reply, Makara stood up abruptly, jolting the table and spilling Nepeta’s coffee. He proceeded to leave the room silently, while Nepeta frantically tried to clean up so it wouldn’t stain. 

She didn’t notice Vantas staring intently at her the whole time, and when she looked up again offered him a simple smile. He nodded at her and they made their way to the door, where she showed him out and locked it behind him. Trying to ignore the odd display of Makara’s, and foolishly tricking herself into believing it didn’t mean anything. 

Nepeta did not get a lot of sleep that night. 

Nothing big happened for the next couple weeks, she kept her nose clean and Equius kept his head low. She continued to see Makara and Vantas, but offered them nothing more than a short wave and soft smile. She didn’t let Equius talk to them. 

One night, after an especially long shift for Equius, the two were curled into each other on the couch watching movies. A knock at the door caused Nepeta to jolt up, her nerves on end. She cautiously made her way over, looking through the peep hole and relaxing as Dirk and Dave’s faces appeared in her line of sight. She opened the door and they came in nonchalantly. 

“What brings you two here?” she questioned, walking past them and returning to her place on the couch. 

“The two new doves; they’re getting impatient, Jane sent us to warn you two that they’ll be posting low-level doves around this building until they find you.” Dirk supplied, tone emotionless and face blank. 

“Probably already set ‘em up, bastards work fast,” Dave added, and Nepeta knew what he was implying. Equius did too. 

“Shoot…” he muttered, and Nepeta pat his cheek softly. 

“If they are set up, how long until they find us? We haven’t been careful enough...” Nepeta asked, trying to think of how quickly she could get Equius out of there. 

“Not long, but you guys have a few places to choose from already, I talked to Jane and Roxy and either one is willing to help you out for a while, and of course we are too,” Dirk answered. 

“How soon can you take him?” she asked, running her fingers through Equius’s hair and tugging if he tried to interrupt. 

“As soon as he’s packed.” 

Equius, try as he might, could not get Nepeta to back down on this fight. He finished packing in record time, and the three of them set off, leaving Nepeta alone. Only after he was gone did she begin packing her stuff. 

The phone began to ring halfway through her packing, and Nepeta answered it cheerily, though was only met with raspy breathing. Annoyed, grossed out, and slightly scared she demanded whoever it was to speak. She wished she hadn’t. 

“Why did your roommate leave?” Makara’s voice rang through, and Nepeta froze in fear. 

“How did you get my number? Why do you care if he left? I’ll call the police you fucking creep-“ 

“The police won’t intervene. This is official CCG business now, and we have reason to detain you under suspicion of being/aiding a ghoul if you don’t start talking.” 

“…We had a fight. We’re taking time apart while we sort things out and decide if we want to keep living together. That’s all.” 

“I hate liars.” Click. 

Nepeta began packing a lot faster. 

She was on her way to Jane’s when it happened; running into the two doves she saw sniffing around the entry door to the large apartment building. She walked by with her backpack nonchalantly, though she knew they were on to her. They stopped and stared as she walked by, and once she got a little ways past them sped up a little, until she was far enough away she could safely start to jog. 

They were following her. She tried losing them in a crowd, but they were sticking to her like glue. She figured if they lost her they’d have Makara after them, and for once sympathized with doves. It ended quickly when she noticed a third trying to cut her off a little ahead of her. She was glad they carried around those well-known briefcases; she would’ve been fucked otherwise. 

She darted into an alleyway near her, knowing a secret pass that had been made (and expertly hidden) for ghouls caught in situations like hers. She turned right, knowing her safety was just ten feet away, and she had plenty of time before the doves caught up to her. 

Makara stood directly beside the entrance to the hiding spot, watching her with a scowl and hooded eyes. Vantas was beside him, arms crossed, finger ready to activate his quinque. Nepeta stopped dead in her tracks, knowing she was caught. Dread seeped its way into her heart, and she found it hard to breathe. Backing up, she turned to flee from the investigators in front of her, but was met with the three lower level doves from before. She cursed, facing Makara and Vantas again. They were in charge, the others wouldn’t move unless told to. She was sure of that. 

“Well, this sucks,” she grinned, shrugging her backpack off her shoulders and waiting for the doves to do something before she showed her kakugan or her kagune and settled it once and for all that she was, in fact, the ghoul they were looking for. 

“Stand down.” Makara barked out, as he slowly activated his quinque. Vantas stood back, watching and waiting from a safe distance. A very quick glance behind her told Nepeta that the three doves had vanished, probably going back to their posts. 

He moved quicker than she expected, and it would’ve been game over immediately if it wasn’t for her cat-like reflexes, allowing her to jump back and release her kagune, activating her kakugan in the process. She snarled, crouching low to the ground and keeping her shoulders close to her, ready to pounce on him or jump away and up the side of a building, whichever he gave her the chance of doing. 

Unfortunately, because his quinque was long (but very bulky and strong) she was unable to jump to escape or get anywhere near him. Her kagune, a rinkaku/ukaku mix, was no match for his. She knew she had to disable it if she had any chance of escape, so with that in mind, she rushed forward. She didn’t stand a chance, and immediately his quinque whipped around and slammed into her stomach, forcing blood up and through her mouth and nose. 

She slammed into the ground hard, grunting in pain and rolling to her side immediately. Tears pricked at her eyes as she looked up to see Makara striding towards her, quinque surprisingly left on the ground behind him. She didn’t know what he was up to, but didn’t like it either. She struggled to her feet, knees buckling together and her torso slouched over, due to numerous broken bones, but she refused to lie down and die. 

With one more burst of strength she managed to graze the left side of his body, leaving hardly noticeable scratches. At first he looked very pissed, but then a sick grin spread across his face. She flinched in disgust, once more shooting her kagune forward and this time leaving a noticeable scratch across his face. Her victory was short-lived, and her energy was drained. 

She couldn’t say she felt when his hands first wrapped around her neck, but she definitely felt him slam her into the alley’s walls behind them. The blow to her head caused her to lose her kagune, though her kakugan stayed, as she squinted at pain at the investigator before her. His hands tightened once again, and she gagged out, blood still flowing a lot faster than it could be regenerated, lungs getting no air. She squeezed her eyes shut when she felt him pull her head back just to slam it into the wall again, and she could feel the back of her head bleeding now, too. 

She figured this was the end. She was very terrified, weakly scratching at his hands, but also slightly relieved. Through the blinding pain, and immobilizing fear, she at least knew she had saved Equius. That’s all that mattered, and with that thought, she started to allow herself to drift off into the blackness she could feel creeping around her consciousness. 

Until she couldn’t feel it anymore. And instead of Makara’s rough, unforgiving hands, she felt someone’s smooth, comforting hands wrap around her and pick her up bridal style. She groaned at the pain it caused her sides and stomach, but when she saw Feferi’s caring eyes meet hers she smiled gratefully. She turned to catch one last glimpse at Makara and Vantas, and saw them engaging Equius and Dave. It didn’t really register in her mind, and as Feferi rushed off with her limp body, she simply closed her eyes and allowed everything to fade away once again. 

She woke up on a couch she didn’t recognize, covered pretty much head to toe in bandages and makeshift casts. She didn’t even try to move, simply let her eyes wander around as far as they could, trying to place who was all in the room with her. 

Feferi was there, sitting closest to her but obviously asleep by the way her neck drooped and her shoulders sagged. Dave was also there, standing close to the door and looking pretty beat up. She noticed he wasn’t looking anywhere near her, but didn’t think too much of it. Dirk was also there, but he was probably the farthest away, looking over everything but seemingly reluctant to join in. She figured he was just a tiny bit intimidated being surrounded by ghouls, and would’ve barked out a laugh if she knew it wouldn’t tear her insides apart. The fourth person in the room, sitting near her feet in a chair she had pulled up, was Jane. Through simple deduction, Nepeta figured it was Jane’s house and Jane’s couch, and felt kind of bad for trespassing. 

“Hey…guys…” she breathed out, wincing at the pain it caused her aching chest. Jane and Dave both whipped their heads towards her, Jane immediately getting up to creep closer. Feferi jolted awake, and met her eyes with such a deep sorrow Nepeta was taken aback. 

“Nepeta, hi, how are you?” Feferi asked softly, tilting her head at her seriously damaged friend. Nepeta smiled in return. 

“I’m good, got my pride pretty much destroyed though,” she paused to laugh, an unpleasant noise that sounded more like a handsaw cutting a log, “say, uh, I hate to be a bother after everything but, where’s, uh, where’s Eq? I’d really like to see him, if you guys don’t mind…” talking was easier now, but it still hurt pretty badly. She needed to eat soon or she’d never heal properly. 

Feferi’s expression immediately changed, and Jane hurriedly excused herself to get some food for Nepeta. Dave and Dirk shared sidelong glances at each other, before they too came closer to her. A dark and heavy feeling settled in her gut, and she hoped this was some kind of joke. 

“Nepeta, Equius is…Equius-“ Feferi started, but Dave cut her off. 

“Equius was killed, Nep. I’m so fucking sorry.” 

She looked from the three of them in disbelief, from Feferi with her eyes filling with tears, to Dave who didn’t show anything he was feeling, to Dirk who wouldn’t look at her. 

“No, see, Equius is safe…He’s okay.” She tried to argue, denial overtaking common sense. She knew there was no way Dave and Equius could take on both Makara and Vantas alone, but there was no way…no way that Equius hadn’t been able to escape. He was so strong. Feferi looked away from her, covering her mouth to try to stop the hiccupping sobs. Dave didn’t move a muscle, just stared down at her through his shades. 

Nepeta laid her head back, and stared at the ceiling. The tears started falling, but, she wasn’t sure why. Equius was fine. He was at the auto shop with Jade, stinking the place up. He was fine. Fine. He was. Fine he was he was he was he was he was 

She screamed and wailed until exhaustion overtook her and she fell back asleep. 

When she awoke, there was fresh food placed in front of her, but she didn’t have the energy to reach for it. Fine, if Equius was dead, so was she. She was numb and dead and ready to join him. She turned her head away and stared at the back of the couch she was laying on. Feferi tried coaxing her to eat, and finally resorted to forcing her to. Nepeta struggled all the while, reopening some wounds, and it got to the point Feferi had to call on Jane for backup. 

In the end, Feferi and Jane won out and Nepeta ate the whole thing. Her healing was back up to its normal standard, and she could already feel her head wound disappear. She knew the internal bleeding and broken ribs would take a little longer, but didn’t mind. She was tired. Too tired to fight, and if Jane and Feferi wanted to waste their time taking care of her that was on them. Dave and Dirk had left sometime while she was comatose, and she was kind of relieved. She didn’t want to be around anyone who didn’t 100% appreciate Equius for everything he was. Was. Equius was the most important person to her. Is. 

She sighed, tears once again beginning to fall. Snot, too, was making its way down her face, but she was too miserable to care at all. Feferi grabbed some tissues and began to clean her face up, but Nepeta did not move. She knew sooner or later Feferi would force her to get back to living, she knew she had to. She had to keep moving or she’d die, she’d die without ever avenging Eq. 

He wouldn’t get a gravestone. He wouldn’t get a grave. They were probably manufacturing his kagune into a quinque as she lay there pitifully. They were getting away with his murder. He didn’t deserve this; he didn’t do this to himself. Fine, he couldn’t get a gravestone. Fine, he couldn’t rest in peace. Fine, he couldn’t grow old or finish his projects or have his own kids or live any other way than in constant fear. Fine, he was murdered. 

But Makara would not live. Sure, Nepeta was going to die too. Sure, they knew her face, her habits, and her kagune. Sure, they knew more about her than she did them. But Makara would die with her. Equius couldn’t have a lot of things, but he would get closure. She hoped. She prayed. Closure to him would probably be her living happy and free of worry. But closure to her, the last living link of him, meant Makara burning in hell. 

And Nepeta knew just the ghoul she would have to contact. 


	2. Time Flies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions are fickle things. Emotions after trauma are worse.   
> Nepeta's not dealing with things very well, but who can blame her?   
> All this shit keeps piling up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if it seems a lil ooc im v sorry!! I tried to take his core personality and then expand from it because he's not an alien here, and he's also much older than 13 feedback appreciated!!  
> Also this chap is kinda short but a lot of things happen so I think it makes up for it

Eridan was pissed. 

Being driven out of his territory by some lowly dove like chum bait, having people reject him one after the other, and now, on top of _everything else_ , he was forced to work like this? Did no one have respect for powerful ghouls like himself anymore? Okay, so, like nobody actually _knew_ his face (he wasn’t a fuckin’ idiot like Vris, after all) but he still deserved respect. He was royalty—from Scotland, but royalty all the same! 

He threw the fourth trash bag of the night into the large dumpster outside of the shitty fast-food restaurant, contemplating throwing himself in there too. “Maybe I should join the other bags of trash…” he muttered to himself, banging it shut and slumping his shoulders as he mentally prepared himself to go back inside and be treated like a commoner. Laying low was shit.

“If you don’t, I’ll gladly help you out.”   
He knew that voice. It was the voice that had rejected him when he had made a simple and heartfelt request.

He whipped around, facing Nepeta Leijon head on. She had no telling expression, just a blank face with cold eyes. It unnerved him quite a bit, and he wondered if this was some sort of assassination bullshit and her big buff bodyguard was waiting just around the corner. 

“How’d you find me?” he asked, tone tired and slightly annoyed. He almost welcomed death.

“It’s not hard, I’m not just a pretty face, you know,” she said, facial expression and tone never changing. He shivered unwillingly. 

“What do you-“

“I have a proposition for you, if you want to escape your…current means of employment,” she said, obviously looking down on him in order to pressure him into helping her. He spat in annoyance and stuffed his hands into his pockets, huffing slightly. 

“What do you have in mind, Nep?” 

“Nothing big, just help me track down and kill a high-ranking investigator.” 

“Oh you’ve gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.” 

 

It turns out she wasn’t fuckin’ kiddin’ him, and had simply requested he didn’t question her on, well, anything. He didn’t think it’d be too hard in the beginning, but after spending some time with her in a shitty hotel room while she paced around and tried to explain the looks and habits of their intended prey, he needed to know where her guy was, and if he knew she was with him. Last thing he needed was that meathead tryna bash his brains out, ya know? Not worth it, not even for a little tail.

“Where’s ya boy, Nep? Why ain’t he helpin’ ya out?” she stopped. She turned. She stared blankly at him.

“Equius was killed by Makara, jackass. It was supposed to be me. It was…it was going to be me. I was dead in Makara’s hands. It should’ve been me.” She said, more mumbling to herself than explaining anything to him. 

He got up to offer his support—feeling like a huge douche—but the second his hand touched her shoulder she was on the other side of the room, back against the wall and eyes narrowed and wild. He put his hands up in surrender, taking half a step back. 

“I’m sorry Nep, shit, I didn’t mean-“

“It doesn’t fucking matter. It’s done; can we please focus on finding this guy? I need your help,” she sighed, looking disgusted for a quick second, “I need…you, Ampora, I need you to help me.” 

Holy shit, had he heard her right, or was the news of meathea-Equius’s death causing him to vividly hallucinate? 

“Don’t just stand there slack-jawed, answer me so I don’t have to hunt down someone more willing!” she snapped, and he could tell she was trying to divert his attention from the embarrassing confession she’d made in order for him to bend to her will. He knew what she was doing; she wasn’t good at trying to manipulate people, not like him or his cousin. He grinned at her, and she narrowed her eyes at him. 

“Sure thing, I’ll help ya out, Nep. How do we start this whole thing?” 

She looked relieved, and walked over to the side table on her side of the room. Picking up a notebook, she continued walking until she was beside him, and he looked down over her to read it. Hundreds of messy notes scrawled across the span of the two open pages, and he wondered how much of it was mindless coping and how much was actual fact. A few phrases stood out to him, but one in particular caught his attention and held it:

_“weird mannerisms. knows ghoul habits very well. past experience? who is he, where did he come from”_

“You think he knows ghouls?” he asked, and felt her shoulders stiffen in what he assumed defence was.

“Nobody could kill Eq that easily…there’s something I’m missing, it has to do with how he acted. I know it does. He’s hiding something.” She was mumbling again, and once more he felt the urge to touch her shoulder in support. He restrained himself. 

“Alright, well, where do you think we should start lookin’?” 

“We’ve gotta talk to Aranea, she’s bound to know at least something. But I can’t go out in public, so I need you to deliver her a message and a meeting spot.” 

Of fuckin’ course his first mission was to contact a Serket. _Of fuckin’ course._ It seemed that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape Vris. He tried ignoring the image of her sick grin and the grating sound of her laugh as he answered Nep’s simple request. 

“Just give me the deets and consider it done.” 

 

Eridan Ampora stood outside the dainty little bookshop, scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face and usual glasses switched to prescription sunglasses. He hated coming back to this area, but he couldn’t argue that he was much safer than Nep was. 

He opened the door, not bothering to wipe his shoes on the mat as he entered. He glanced around, praying that Aranea would be the first one he saw so he could get the fuck outta dodge before Pyrope or Captor started sniffing around. 

Luckily for him, his praying came through and he noticed Aranea’s blonde hair bobbing around behind the information desk. He walked over, hands stuffed back into his jean pockets to try and give that “I’m too cool to care” look. 

“Long time no see, Serket,” he greeted, and she slowly raised her head and turned it to face him. 

“Ah, Ampora. What’re you doing here? Pyrope was here just last week hunting any leads on you down,” she said, standing up completely and smoothing her skirt down. 

“I gotta ask a favour of you, since you’re the smartest gho-girl around,” he saved himself, and she shot him a condescending look. 

Always condescendin’, these fuckin’ Serkets.

“What’s in it for me?” she asked, and he grinned his shark-like grin. 

“You know Nep was forced into hidin’, right? Well, the investigators on her case have ties with ghouls, maybe. They’ll also start comin’ around here unless we can wipe ‘em out,” he explained, leaning his elbow onto the desk. 

She raised an eyebrow as she swat his arm with a rolled up magazine. “Alright, I'm interested. Where should I meet you two?”

“Glad to hear, meet us behind Kan’s Boutique tonight at midnight.” 

“See you two then. Now get out before you get me caught, too.” 

 

Midnight came a lot faster than Eridan thought it would. Nepeta didn't seem too ready for this, even though her steely gaze remained unchanging. He could tell something was off with her, and not just the usual “my qp was murdered” off. 

Aranea showed up at 12:00 exactly, and Eridan had to try not to roll his eyes. They all greeted each other, and then Nepeta broke the pleasant air almost immediately. 

“What do you know about investigators Makara and Vantas?” She asked, leaning against the back wall of the boutique. 

“Makara talked to me while they were in there, which is probably when they first started to expect you. And that's not just a random guess; he continuously and almost obsessively asked about you. 

“I didn't tell him much, obviously, but he was asking some very specific questions,” she said, hands folded in front of her and shoulders held back. 

“Like what?” Nepeta pressed.

“Things like usual hangouts, favourite food, friends, lovers, those kinds of things. But get this: he asked how you like your coffee.” 

For a few minutes, everything was silent. Aranea was happy to let the shock of her words affect people so much, so she didn't feel pressured to rush the two with her. 

“Holy fuck. I knew it. He knows a ghoul or has a history with them or something,” Nepeta said, chewing on her fingertip. 

“Or he's involved with one.” Eridan supplied, and Aranea added on, “Does he fight like one?”

Nepeta frowned, eyebrows crinkling together. 

“Thanks, Aranea. We’ll keep you updated on what we find,” she said, nodding at the older woman. 

“It was my pleasure. Don't get too in over your heads, now.” And she was gone. 

“What now?” Eridan said, glancing over to his companion who seemed to be in deep thought. 

“We see Dave.” 

 

Nepeta was the one who knocked on Dave and Dirk’s shared apartment door, while Eridan stood back and watched her. She looked tense, almost angry, but wouldn't say a word to Eridan about it. About anything, really. Not since she told him they were paying the “charming” ghoul a visit. 

Dirk opened the door, raising his eyebrows over his glasses instead of greeting them. 

“Dave, please.” Nepeta practically commanded, and Dirk seemed to pause, considering if it was worth the fight. Apparently he decided it wasn't a good idea to get involved in ghoul affairs, and disappeared to find Dave. He didn't invite them in. 

Eridan scoffed, but Nepeta hissed a threat under her breath at him. Before it could escalate further Dave was at the door, glancing from Nepeta to Eridan and back again. 

“’Sup?” 

“How did Makara fight, Dave?” She asked, getting slightly more in his face. He tensed up immediately. 

“Go home, Nep. It's over.” 

“How, Dave? What did you see? What are you hiding?” She took a step closer, lowering her voice. Even so, there was a venom that had both Dave and Eridan shrinking back slightly. 

“Makara…Makara’s faster than any human I've ever seen, man. Ain’t no human can move like that, ya hear me? Don't come ‘round here again, sorry Nep. Gotta protect my own.” He closed the door on her, but she left without argument. 

Eridan stood for a couple seconds in shock, before jogging to catch up with Nep who was speed-walking like nobody's business. 

“Care to explain?” He asked, and she shook her head. 

“Home first.” Well, he couldn't really argue when she called their shared living space “home”, now could he?

 

Now he could argue. It had been two days since she had stormed Dave’s apartment, and she spoke hardly more than two words at a time to him. He was trying his best to give her space, he really was, but this was testing his patience. Finally, as she was furiously scribbling more half-notes half-nonsense in her notebook, he broke. 

“Nep, I mean it, what's the deal?” He asked, sitting on the end of her bed, legs crossed and arms resting on his knees.   
She glanced up at him, scowled, and went back to her notebook. “Nothing.”

That was the last straw for him. He got she was suffering, but she wanted his help. He needed to know the details. 

“No, see, this isn't how this is goin’ to work. You're goin’ to tell me what’s happenin’, and we're goin’ to work through it together. Or you're goin’ to find someone else to help you on this suicide mission.” His accent became much thicker the more aggravated he got, but when he noticed her tensing up at “suicide mission” he softened his tone again, “Show me what you've got.”

She paused, looking up at him before cautiously beckoning him over. He crawled over, sitting next to her at the head of the bed. She placed the notebook on his lap. 

“Makara was raised by ghouls, Eridan. I knew I never stood a chance, but will I even be able to take him down with me?”

He looked at her. She was trembling, her face was paler than it should've been, and she was gnawing at her bottom lip. He knew she was hiding something from him; wasn't telling the whole truth. He figured he should be mad, and yet… 

He touched her hand and she whipped her head up to look at him. He wanted to say something right for once, but he always fucked words up. So he just held her hand and looked at her. She leaned in to hug him, and he opened his arms to accept her.   
He couldn't really say he minded too much when she did stuff like this. 

…wait a fucking second. 

He smirked, maybe she _was_ better at manipulation than he first thought. 

 

Eridan woke up to a pounding on the door, Nepeta sitting pin-straight beside him. He saw a glazed look in her eyes, like she wasn't completely there. He got up to answer the door, and it looked like she was going to move to stop him. When she didn't, he walked over to the door as calmly as he could, scared to freak her out more. 

Jane was visible from the peephole. He hardly knew her, as she established her territory where his used to be. Still, he could tell something was wrong by the puffiness of her eyes. 

Something was always wrong. 

“It's that Crocker ghoul,” he called to Nepeta, and she slowly crawled off the bed and approached the door. 

She opened it, but didn't say anything to Jane. They looked at each other for a long time before Nepeta opened the door wider and Jane walked in. 

“Hi, Nepeta, it's been a while, huh?” She almost laughed, trailing her fingers on Eridan’s bedside table absently. 

He looked at Nepeta, wondering what she was thinking. Whatever it was, she didn't give him any hints. 

“Yeah, it sure has. Why are you here?” He figured she hadn't meant to sound rude, and he doubted Jane took it that way either. Still, it was undeniably rude. 

“I have news for you, actually. I learned about it yesterday, and I would've told you, but, well…it’s been hard to grieve,” Jane started, staring off at a wall, her expression the most pitiful thing Eridan had ever seen. 

“Please stop stalling.” 

“Ah, yes, sure…Nepeta, Dave is dead and Dirk’s missing.”

Eridan couldn't quite understand what Jane had said. Sure, the words made sense, but they didn't hold any _meaning_ to him. He understood Jane crying as she spoke, and Nepeta clutching at her chest and gasping, but he didn't understand why. It wasn't fitting together in his head.   
Until it did. 

“Holy fuck, are you-you can't be, where is his body?” Eridan stuttered out, a fumbling mess as he tried to understand what this meant for him, what this meant for Nepeta. 

Oh fuck, _Nepeta._

She was on her knees, pulling at her hair and grinding her teeth together. She probably would've been mumbling something, because he heard an odd humming sound coming from her, but it looked as most her functions just…shut off. Like someone else was in control, and they were doing a shitty fucking job. 

He knelt beside her, pressing one hand in-between her shoulder blades and the other around her torso and onto her other shoulder, forcing her to look at him. 

Jane stood perfectly still, tears falling down her face and lip trembling. When she spoke, Nepeta stopped moving. 

“You have to go to the apartment. Dave would want you to end this for them, too.”

Eridan, stuck glancing from Jane to trying to shush Nepeta, knew deep in his gut that their bad news just got worse. 

 

Jane came with them to the apartment, but she refused to go up the stairs to the 5th floor, where the actual room was. Nepeta, dressed head to toe in clothes she’d rather be dead than wearing, didn't even seem to notice when Jane stopped walking. She continued on up the stairs and up to the room just as single-mindedly as she had a few nights prior. 

Eridan followed behind, a lot less numb and a lot more anxious as to what was going to happen to them. He knew Jane had seen what waited for them inside, and the fact that she looked like she'd accept death before going inside again didn't comfort him. 

By the time he was done monologuing to himself, Nep had already disappeared into the room. He didn't hear any terrible sounds, so he—wrongly—assumed that everything was as okay as it could be in a situation like this. Once he got inside, he knew what a mistake he had made. 

Dave’s blood was all over the walls, like it had been purposefully—almost artistically—put there. Nep wasn't in his sight, and he hoped she was smart enough not to disrupt anything. The police hadn't been called yet, obviously, so it was an “untouched” crime scene. They couldn't afford to leave any evidence of themselves behind. 

He continued into the apartment, noticing more and more blood the further he went. He wondered if Dirk was alive at all, but if it had been Makara who did this there would be no reason to kill Dirk. 

The main bedroom is where he paused a little longer, since it seemed to be where the murder actually took place. There wasn't a whole lot of struggle, but a lot more blood than anywhere else. He wrenched his nose in disgust, heading into the room attached to the bedroom, the bathroom. 

Nep was in there, staring at something on the wall. Eridan was too distracted by Dave’s lifeless body in the tub to really concern himself with whatever bullshit she was doing now. 

Dave’s body was a mess. Eridan wondered if any limbs were still attached, since most just seemed to be placed around him. His body was covered in blood, obviously, but he had bloody fingerprints on his eyelids, and that creeped Eridan out more than anything else. 

He turned back to Nep, not wanting to look at Dave’s body anymore, and finally looked to what she was staring at. Painted on the wall, in Dave’s blood, was the message _“three blind mice :0(“_ and underneath that was _“youre next :0)”._

“Makara did this, I'm sure of it.” She spoke, and glanced over to Eridan. 

“Three blind mice. Equius, Dave, and I. It's a threat,” Eridan couldn't argue with that, because it tied in to the “you're next” part as well. 

He found himself without words though, which Nepeta didn't seem to realize. She was too deep in thought. 

“We should leave,” Nepeta said, and he nodded. Had he not been so desensitized to violence and gore, this probably would've affected him more. As it was, he hardly blinked on the way out. Even so, he couldn't deny a shiver creeping up his spine. 

Nepeta didn't cry until they got back home. He sat with her, her curled into his chest and him holding her easily. She cried for a long, long time, and Eridan couldn't blame her. 

Makara was a lot more dangerous than they had thought, and Eridan suspected that he would be on their asses a lot more now that Dave was dead. 

“No witnesses,” he mumbled, and Nepeta tightened her grip on his shirt, sniffling louder. 

“You're a witness now, too.” 

 

Days passed. Then weeks. Soon, it had been two months since Dave’s murder and Makara had yet to show his face to them. Eridan was less than optimistic, nerves on end day in day out. Nepeta was—seemingly—far more relaxed than him, but he knew the truth. She was just waiting for the next hit. 

And it came, but not like they thought it would.

 

Jade didn't start by knocking on the door, no, she jumped straight to pounding on it, yelling for Nepeta to open up. Panicked, that's exactly what she did. Both Eridan and her would come to regret that. 

“You dragged him into something, didn't you?” She shouted, stabbing a finger at Nepeta’s chest. 

“No, I-what are you-?” Nepeta started, but was abruptly cut off by Jade again. 

“First Equius dies and then Dave does? In the same month? That's not a coincidence! That kind of fucking thing doesn't happen here, Nepeta! What is it? Drugs? Gambling? Owed favours? Why did you do this to him?” Jade was getting louder the more hysterical she got, and she had passed yelling a while ago. 

Nepeta backed up, raising her hands and shaking her head. Jade couldn't know. Jade wouldn't understand. “It's not like that-“

“Then what is it like?” For every step Nepeta took back Jade took one forward. Until she was inside. Until she glanced at Eridan. 

And everything froze. 

Eridan stared straight at her, not really knowing what to think. He figured she was close with Dave, though he didn't really know and didn't really care. Still…the way she spoke. Did this mean she was human? And unaware? 

Nobody said anything for a long time. Nepeta kept opening and closing her mouth, like she wanted to but couldn't. Jade’s expression went from angry to confused on repeat. Eridan’s ear twitched. Finally, he spoke. 

“A stalker.” 

“What?” Jade said, after a brief pause where she processed what he said. 

“Nepeta has a stalker. He attacked her one night when she was on her way to Dave and Dirk’s to meet up with the guys. Eq got worried when she didn't show and so he and Dave left to find her. Eq stayed behind to distract the guy but he…yeah. The stalker must’ve thought of Dave as a threat,” Eridan said, making it all up on the spot. Nepeta was staring at him, digging her nails into her palms. 

Once again an uneasy silence filled the air. Jade was glancing back and forth between the two, Nepeta’s gaze was locked on Eridan, and Eridan’s gaze was locked on Jade. 

“Who…are you?” She asked. 

“A friend,” Eridan and Nepeta answered together, and his gaze finally met hers. 

“He's helping me hide. I'm so sorry Jade, I never wanted anyone to get hurt…I should've told someone before it got so bad,” Nepeta said, tearing her eyes away from Eridan’s. 

“I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to…oh Nep, are you okay?” Jade made like she was about to move forward, but reconsidered at the last moment. 

“Well, you know. Not really, but that's what Eri’s here for,” she replied, shooting him a sad smile. He didn't react. 

Everything went silent again. But not like before. Before it was harsh, threatening almost. Now it was just awkward and depressing. 

“Um, yeah, sorry about all the yelling and accusations…I'm just, I don't know. I'm just really sad, man. I'm so sad,” she wiped her tears away quickly, and continued on, “I won't come around again unless you ask. I'm so sorry, I hope you feel better.” 

Nepeta smiled weakly at her and nodded. “You too.”

Jade closed the door softly behind her, and Eridan walked over to lock it. When he turned around to talk to Nep, she was laying with her back facing him on one of the beds. Specifically, his bed. 

“Hey, uh, Nep? That's, that's my bed.” He didn't get a response. She was either asleep or ignoring him.

He sat down on one of the chairs, idly flipping through her notebook. He read something that made his heart stop and his throat constrict. 

He looked over at Nep, and wondered what else she could be hiding from him.


End file.
